JOHOR BAHRU Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today expressed disappointment and sadness over the backlash from some parties against the government’s move to bring injured Palestinians from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Malaysia.
He said some even went to extremes in criticising the noble effort when it was just a small act of compassion and kindness towards the Palestinian people who have been suffering and enduring Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza.
What is worse, Anwar said, some also asked him to go and become the prime minister of Palestine.
“Israel shoots, bombs, destroys houses, kills babies and women. Many Palestinians were injured, men were jailed, women were raped.
“And when we brought those injured here (for medical treatment), some people started to criticise, saying I shouldn’t be the prime minister of Malaysia, telling me to go be the prime minister of Palestine if I really wanted to help.”
Anwar said this when officiating the closing of the Southern Zone Madani Rakyat programme at Dataran UTM, Skudai, today.
The prime minister said this was not the first time the Malaysian government had decided to help people from conflict-stricken countries.
“There are many others who came before them (the Palestinians) such as the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya and Acehnese refugees. We provided protection to them until the tension in their countries subsided,” he said.
Anwar said he found it absurd that some civil servants also accepted these criticisms, rather than being proud and congratulating the government and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) for the effort.
“We are the first country in Asia that has brought in injured Palestinians for treatment.
“How is this possible? Because our Cabinet and our leaders in the unity government have agreed to take the common responsibility to do this,” he said.
Yesterday, two RMAF Airbus A-400M aircraft carrying 41 injured Palestinians and 86 family members landed safely at the Subang air base at around 2pm, after taking off from the Al Maza air force base in Cairo on Thursday night.
All the injured Palestinians will be treated at the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The uninjured relatives will be housed in a transit location provided by the defence ministry.
Anwar defends use of RMAF aircraft
On the criticism of the government’s move to use RMAF aircraft in the operation instead of commercial flights, Anwar said this was done due to security risks, especially involving areas along the Egyptian border.
“We took them (Palestinians) at the (Egyptian) border, so we have to negotiate with the Egyptian government.
“The condition was that we must use air force aircraft and must have proper equipment.
“The aircraft might get shot by an Israeli missile. Everyone on the plane knew the risk,” he said.
Anwar said the permission to bring the Palestinians to Malaysia was also made possible due to the close relationship between Malaysia and Egypt, as well as several other Middle Eastern countries.
“I called the president of Egypt, asking for their cooperation. It would be impossible for us to bring them here if there is no such cooperation with Egypt.
“So, it is good that we have good relations with Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran because that made it possible for us to carry out this mission,” he said.
Anwar reminded all Malaysians to always be grateful for the peace in the country and ability to help others, especially the Palestinians.
“This is the least we can do. Let’s be grateful for our ability to lighten the burden of others.
“We are just helping 40 to 50 injured Palestinians. What is this compared to 40,000 others who have been violently killed by Israel in Gaza?”